Wildomar city manager resigns, assumes position in new city

WILDOMAR – City Manager Frank Oviedo announced his voluntary resignation on Dec. 3, 2012, to assume the position of Assistant City Manager in the Southern California city of Santa Clarita. The city of Santa Clarita is the third largest city in Los Angeles County with a population of 203,300 residents, nearly the size of Temecula and Murrieta combined.

Oviedo stated, “I’m grateful for the opportunity Wildomar afforded me these last three years. It has been an absolute thrill to be the city’s first city manager. It is without a doubt one of the highlights of my career.”

Oviedo further commented, “It was a tough decision but in the end having family in the Santa Clarita Valley tipped the scale. My kids will appreciate living near their grandparents.”

Mayor Benoit commented, “Frank’s management style suited Wildomar well in these early years. We hate to see him go but we do wish him well in his new venture.”

Oviedo’s goal was to put the city on a solid financial footing by restructuring the city’s budget from top to bottom. He accomplished this by using his public sector version of mergers and acquisitions. Oviedo merged a number of outside funding sources such as the former County Cemetery District and County Service Areas (CSAs) in to the city operations in order to better cost allocate city staff time. Through this, Wildomar was able to gain local control and stabilize its finances at the same time. Additionally, all the city’s contracts were reviewed and in some cases, such as solid waste, Frank was able to bring in new revenue to the city.

His constant vigilance over all things financial led him to make putting a new financial system in place a top city priority. By doing this, a culture of accountability and transparency helped Wildomar to achieve several national financial reporting awards. In the end, frugality was always on everyone’s mind at city hall. Under Frank’s watch every penny was pinched to stave off the financial problems brought on by the recession and the State’s actions which eliminated Wildomar’s Motor Vehicle License Fee (MVLF).

Oviedo went onto say, “When I got here sales and property tax was in steep decline, new development was absent, and the county parks tax was overturned by the courts. Even with those challenges I believed Wildomar had great potential. I tried to do everything in my power in the last three years to assist the new city council in turning the ship around. With a little luck and a lot of planning, I believe the city is finally pointed in a positive direction. I can leave knowing the city is positioned to do great things in the future.”